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This is an archive collection of entries from my main personal blog, My Mundane Mid-Life.
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This collection of entries is from July 2005.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
ExtraYes, we're still here - and not packing to go home. I made my contacts (thanks to my cell phone, Bluetooth DUN and a VPN connection). I didn't like all of the email traffic that I saw, though. My backup had too many messages for backing-me up during a time I should have seen zero activity.
That means something's up. And now, I'm feeling a little guilty.
Still, I'll enjoy this full day away and whatever time we''ll have tomorrow.
posted at 11:34 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Saturday, July 30, 2005
The plan hatches...The day way too wonderful. Lots of pool time, great dinner (Barry made a beer can chicken with a great rub).
And we have to leave tomorrow.
Or do we?
read more of this entry »
B & B both took Monday off. Carol is off still another week. That leaves me. What could possibly have happened in the course of this past week where I would REALLY be needed on Monday? That's it... I'll contact (email/voicemail) my boss and my backup tomorrow - I'll be back to work Tuesday instead. I need this extra day. Need it. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:29 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Friday, July 29, 2005
Long day, but we're where we want to beWoke up at 4am. 4 in the morning. Awake. Went downstairs and tried to sleep on the couch. The morning I could sleep-in, and I'm not. Eventually the morning unfolded, Carol got up, we did our last minute packing slowly. Fed the rabbits so they would survive the weekend - Indy knew what was up as soon as she saw the size of the bowl of carrots.
We hit the road. The caller ID software at home paged me with another call from St. Joseph's. We quickly drove back home, no voice mail light blinking. Found the number to Barry's room and found out that he's been waiting around a few hours, waiting to get discharged. We decided to leave and sure enough, he was home by the time we got there.
read more of this entry »
Vacation officially began! We're off to Michigan. The weather was great, the traffic - other than getting on the Skyway - was good. We stopped in Indiana at a Denny's for lunch (actually was good - was not "Denny's-like").
We've spent out first day at the house (went out to dinner at the Red Arrow Road House so we didn't have to worry about food today).
The pool was cold - it was 82 degrees, but was just way too uncomfortable. I'm not sure how to operate the pool heater, so I kinda faked it, turned not just one but two unmarked knobs, and hopefully it would warm up for tomorrow.
But we're up here. Relaxing. looking forward to... nothing. Just more relaxing. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:59 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Caller-IDThe phone rang around dinner time. I looked at the Caller ID and froze. STJOSEPH HOSP. Oh, oh, this isn't going to be good... I only new one or two people that would go to that hospital... and both of them were leaving with us early tomorrow morning to drive to my sister's house in Michigan as a nice weekend getaway...
So, I answered: "I don't like the caller-id on my display." Sure enough, it's Barry. Long story, short - Barry went in for some tests today and they wanted to keep him overnight for observation totally as a precaution.
Well, let's see - that'll cut down or even eliminate pool time tomorrow, and cut down on the vacation decompression time...
... but, damn it it's my bud, so we'll pick-up B&B after Barry gets released in the morning. Not a big deal - at least he's OK and we're going to get away. Now, I'll have to get more info out of him tomorrow...
Hey! we get to sleep-in a bit in the morning!
posted at 06:20 PM | Link | Mundane § | Allergy HellYes, that's where I am right now. Sinuses full, sneezing 8 or 9 times in a row, lungs filling up with post-nasal drip (oh, yuck...), wheezing, coughing...
Oh, this just sucks...
it started a few days ago when I was locked-in the house during the power fail. Then opening-up the doors yesterday just seems to have stirred up god-knows-what in the air.
I'm miserable.
Kill me now.
posted at 07:47 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
CharlieWe went to the AMC South Barrington 30 this afternoon to catch a 5:45 showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight. I loved the original so much, that I didn't know what to expect.
LOVED IT!!!
TWO things:
OOMPA-LOOMPAS!!!! Holy crap I loved these guiys... or guy actually (It was one guy - Deep Roy - who played 165 oompa-loompas via digital effects) GREAT new songs - all from Roald Dahl himself (lyrics, anyway. Music and vocals by Danny Elfman)
and Squirrels! (or, has Veruca says "squir-rels" - I don't know about you, but around here we call them "squirlz" and not "squir-rels") You have to see 40 REAL (not digital produced) squirrels opening nuts in the nut sorting room (they do get digitally animated later in the scene for some specific actions), but they actually trained the squirrels for the nut-sorting!
Over-all, very enjoyable! And the inclusion of a Willy Wonka backstory seems to round-out the script and gives what I think is a more satisfying ending to the moving (compared to the original).
I only missed one thing - I would have LOVED to hear Johnny Depp deliver that wonderful verse:
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"There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing
'Cause the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing! " « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 08:16 PM | Link | Movies § | Well that wasn't worth it.We still have a cable TV feed into the house. We keep it as a backup to the satellite and it's only Basic Cable - just local channels. I had Comcast come out and install a CableCard into the new TV. It's a PCMCIA card (just like you would use in a laptop computer). It replaces a digital cable box, but you don't get any interactive functions (like On Demand video and a Guide - big deal). I did this so that I could get local HD channels (since DirecTV doesn't have that ready yet).
Well - I'm not impressed. We got 8 more stations on cable - and that doesn't cover all of the local digital transmissions that are available.
I'm not sure it was worth it. I mean, I'm getting the digital signal for Channel 2 which I can't pull in over the air, but... eh... We've got a couple of HD local channels now.
posted at 01:06 PM | Link | Mundane § | Now we're talking!It's GORGEOUS outside!!! That rain yesterday afternoon was the long awaited cold front! The sun is out, just a slight breeze, hardly a cloud in the sky, and the temperatures this morning are in the 60's!!! We opened up all the doors and windows to get air out the place - it's wonderful!
posted at 07:14 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
It wasn't over!!!So, at around 3:30pm, while I'm on the phone with Carol, THE POWER GOES OUT AGAIN! It starts to rain as well. So the installers (Tom and Erik) went ahead and installed the dish and tested as best as they could with their equipment without any power. They ran an additional cable around the house for the HD receiver (I wanted a clear shot of new RG-6 without any connectors between the receiver and the multiswitch, just to keep the signal intact).
So, they left and left me their phone numbers and offered to actually come back and tweak it some more when the power comes up.
read more of this entry »
I couldn't take it in the airless house, so Carol & I went out to dinner (and took a side-trip to the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin - we haven't been there in ages and wanted to check it out. It hasn't changed).
We were home by 8 o'clock and the power was back on, so it was out about 3 more hours on top of the 17.
Powered up the house and found out that I had **NO** signal from the new dish. Not a bad signal, **NO** signal.
So, I called Tom. He actually came over in about 20 minutes - he seemed shocked that there was **NO** signal, so he went on the roof - in the almost darkness - and got the dish kickstarted as best as he could. We got our old channels and our new HD stations as well. Tome will come back some other time and fine-tune the dish.
So... is it over??? Will we have power???? And it's still raining outside - steady rain. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 08:49 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Monday, July 25, 2005
17 hours without powerWe had a major storm go through the neighborhood yesterday. High winds, torrential downpour. We had standing water outside our patio door - which is rough to get when the backyard slopes-off almost 5 feet. In fact, my lawn turned into a swamp.
Then around 8 o'clock the power went out.
read more of this entry »
I couldn't take the suspense after about half an hour, so I took Carol's SUV that's parked in the driveway and tooled around the neighborhood. There is debris everywhere - leaves, plants, branches, entire branches broken-off trees, siding missing on a house a block away. This was so much worse than I thought. I drove around to get an idea of how large of area was involved. I head on the radio that an American Airlines hanger at O'Hare lost most of a wall in the wind.
I got home and there was still no power. Around 10:30, we noticed that the people across the street behind us had power. But history told us that our little corner of the world has had bad power problems.
Now, we're still in the middle of the heatwave. It's still in the 90's outside. the air conditioning had been off for a while and you could feel the air stagnate and get warmer. We can't open the doors or windows, because even though it had finally stopped raining (though the lightning still continued for hours) we didn't want to warm-up the house. We attempted to go to bed.
What a lousy night of sleep - or lack of - that was. Woke up this morning. Still no power. Carol got up and showered by flashlight. I went and sat on the couch and let our "kidlettes" (Indy & Chip) out to romp around. Carol went to work. I called ComEd a few times, first to open trouble tickets (because they had NO RECORD of an outage in my area!). AT around 10:30, I called ComEd again, and this time I got a status saying that I should have my power back at 1:15pm today. At around 11am I got an automated call from them saying that I should have power by now, Uh, WRONG! So I had to call to re-open the outage ticket.
I was having a new DirecTV dish installed today so that I can get HD signals for that big screen TV in my family room that has been a ton of fun to watch... too bad it was just sitting there, powerless, and totally un-enjoyable. The installers called earlier saying their morning call had canceled, and wanted to come over now. No, not without power.
Around 1pm I noticed ComEd trucks in the neighborhood, wit guys running around looking at the pedestals in the backyards (our power in underground in our development, like most - if not all - of the more modern developments that have been built in the last 20 years - which just pisses me off even more, because when this happens due to high winds, you know it has nothing to do with the immediate neighborhood - it has to be some place where the feeder lines are above ground - so they can blow down and cause havoc). the installers called - still no power, so we'll have to reschduled... DAMN!!!
Then, around 1:35, the power comes back up! I call the installation company and get them to come over! I liked the guys - a father and son subcontractor team that pointed out everything that was bad with my old setup and explanations why I haven't had good reception that I had expected. We also had discussions on my poor choice of antenna for the new system (fortunately, I had purchased two - don't ask) and had them on my garage roof, deinstalling the old dish and installing the new one in a more solid location).
Now other than a fight with some wasps that were living in a downspout, things are finally progressing. The air conditioning is starting to cool the house back to acceptable levels,the refrigerator is cooling and chilling our food again - nicely insulated from the heat and we're not going to loose anything.
I hate these outages - you feel so helpless and today, I just felt trapped - waiting for power, waiting for installers. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 02:10 PM | Link | Mundane § | Ahhh...A couple of days off... I LIKE it... No money, but I'm liking it... gonna take it easy and decompress, ending the week with a drive to Michigan with B&B and we'll just bob in the pool, barbecue and just crank-up that decompression to a new level...
posted at 10:06 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Sunday, July 24, 2005
White Sox 6 - Red Sox 4 
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GAME TIME TEMPERATURE: 100 DEGREES
37,168 showed-up on a day that the mercury hit 102 degrees.
As for us - we IMMMDIATELY headed for the Stadium Club and got seats along the upper rail.
I can't tell you much about the game - Gary called the final score before the first pitch as Sox winning 9-2 and we totally dismissed him. He was a lot closer than we thought he was.
During the game I went out onto the outfield concourse to see what was going on. The sun was unbearable. I saw two different triage areas being run by medical staffs that had people holding 25lbs bags of ice on there heads while sitting on chairs as the await wheelchairs to get themselves hauled out to someplace to cool down. The line for the Rain Room was the longest I have ever seen, and it was slow moving as no one wanted to leave the cold water.
New Magic Number: 53.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:32 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Saturday, July 23, 2005
White Sox 0 - Red Sox 3
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We somehow dodged still another horrendous weather day by getting the tail of a storm come through before the game/ It never made the 90's today because of the cloud cover - game time was 81 degrees.
Tough, tough game. El Duque actually pitched OK. Orlando Hernandez had 2 runs and 4 hits in 6 2/3 innings, with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts...
Second base umpire Paul Nauert blew 2 obvious calls for the White Sox. When you see calls like this, you can't help but wonder if this guy was paid-off.
This is showing the character if the team - we're coming-up short on offense, the pitching has been... adequate. We've lost 3 games in our leas against the 2nd place Twins, and are now not 13 games ahead but 10 (whoops 10 1/2, the Twins split a bouble-header today). New Magic Number: 54.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:42 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Friday, July 22, 2005
Furlough #2Well, I'm packing up my office again for my second week of furlough.
Again, I've been really looking forward to this... but it's that double-edged sword again - 1 week off but 1 week of no-pay.
I'm feeling I need to negotiate some time off throughout the course of the year. Just don't know how much.
Anyway, I'm outta here for a week!
posted at 04:11 PM | Link | Work § |
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Non productiveYesterday's storm only produced .6" of rain, and that was at O'Hare. Again, the rainfall was very specific to certain areas, so the storm was a non-event around here. I didn't help the plants, the grass, or the drought.
What's even worse, is that we've got the local meteorologists crying "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!" about this weekend, specifically about Sunday - again, a day of baseball for us at "The Cell" against Boston.
Sunday it's supposed to be 97 degrees with a heat index of 105. There are all kinds of warnings up to basically, don't go anywhere outside on Sunday. As the days have been passing and we've been getting closer to Sunday, the predicted high temperature has been slowly going up a degree at a time - a few people locally are saying that we can break 100 degrees on Sunday... and possibly break the all time high on the same day it was set - 105 degrees.
This is nuts...
posted at 09:54 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Storm!Yes! FINALLY! We've gots ourselves a cold front!
Nice, heavy thunderstorms moving through the whole Chicagoloand area.
"Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 651 Remains Valid Until 6 Pm Cdt"
But will it be enough? Not a chance! The front is too "thin" - the storms won't be soaking enough.
posted at 01:18 PM | Link | Mundane § | Google Moon!Wanna check out the lunar surface (maybe, specifically, the Apollo landing sites)?
Google it!
Yes, it's the Google Maps tool - for the moon!
(Just don't zoom-in too close!)
You what today is? It was 36 years ago to that Apollo 11 landed on the moon!
posted at 09:46 AM | Link | Space § |
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
My new elevator pet peeveWell, I've been on this job now for over 6 months.
I'm developing a pet peeve that I cannot control. A totally, irrational pet peeve,
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I work on the 10th floor of the building. The "cafeteria" (or what's left of it) is in the basement.
Going from the 10th floor to basement in an elevator non-stop is damn near impossible. People have the audacity to actually call for an elevator on another floor and ride until still another floor, delaying me in my daily travels. Don't they know I'm hungry? Don't they know that their travels are delaying me in mine?
The ones I hate the most? The ones that take elevator ONE FLOOR. Ever hear of The Stairs???
Oh, I like the new thing that I'm starting to see - groups of people that interrupt your travel by calling your elevator to their floor. And then - because they're gabbing - take their precious little time getting in to the elevator, punch a button for still another floor to again interrupt your journey, continue on in their conversation, and then, when arriving on their destination floor, continue talking - not moving - as the doors open, and start to close again.
I know, I know... I'm being irrational... but when you travel only top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top, any other stops at all delay you. And the stupidest things about it? 1) You have no control about it 2) you're a friggin' nobody, just like any other numnutz in the building and who the hell are you to be so put out because others use your elevator? (yeah, there are 5 elevators that could be used and the rumor has it that there are no engineers in the building that still know how to program the elevators - which is why most of the elevators return - not to the 1st floor, but to the 10th floor where a prior occupant had their executive offices).
Just another pet peeve that I must learn to deal with. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 08:31 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Monday, July 18, 2005
Magic Number61
I don't get it. The Chicago Tribune is posting the Magic Number for the Chicago White Sox. It's just days after the All-Star Game. This is Chicago. Nobody goes out on a limb like this when it comes to sports teams in town.
But here we are - the Sox still have the best record in all of baseball, again the first team to 60 wins. As of this morning, they're 12 games ahead of the 2nd place team (Twins). I'm not expecting to retain the "best record in baseball" title much longer - the St. Louis Cardinals are just 2 games behind in the win column and they have been stronger than the Sox.
And now the media have started noticing the local team that's actually in First Place and I'm getting that "jinxed" feeling, when you don't say certain things even when they're right in front of you, so you don't jinx the situation and have it change.
And there it is - Magic Number 61 - the number of White Sox wins and 2nd place team losses needed to win the division.
It's only July and they're calculating and publishing a Magic Number.
Scary. posted at 05:22 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Sunday, July 17, 2005
MesmerizingOK, now we're just sitting around the big screen TV, finding HD feeds to watch and just watching things because they look good and not because they are good.
OK, I'm diggin' the big screen...
posted at 03:30 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Saturday, July 16, 2005
WOW and BeefWe had Barry & Buffy meet us at Streets of Woodfield this afternoon so that we could all go to see War of The Worlds at the Loews theaters there. We haven't seen them in a while. We got there almost 45 minutes before the movie started - just to make sure we got seats (not a problem with that much time before the start)
I'm still not sure how I feel about the movie. Effects - SUPERB. Technology is really getting effective. I guess I'm still stumbling around the plot, or story line, or how I feel about it. I guess I have to just look at it as "a day in the life" (or many days in the life) of a divorced dad and his kids... when aliens invade the earth with the intent of wiping out all of humanity and succeeding easily with NO HOPE of being able to fight them off, even just a little, to just save a small town or city, only to slowly realize that perhaps they cannot save the entire human species from genocide. The ending scenes... sucked, I think. I wasn't expecting resolution, but surely you would think that something changed in the family relationships by the end... (and why the hell did those few blocks in Boston look surprisingly untouched?)
So, even though we initially talked about going to Big Bowl for dinner, Buffy mentioned she needed meat. So. we made dinner reservations at Chicago Prime Steakhouse, which we haven't been to in years. Had a WONDERFUL wait-person named Cindy who was one of the better servers that we've had in years (If you go - ask for her - you won't be disappointed). We had wonderful meals - though it was quite a bit pricier that we were prepared for.
Afterward, we went back to our house so that we could show them the landscaping that Diane had done, the new rugs that they haven't seen in the living room/dining room, and of course, to take a short spin in front of the big screen TV for a while.
In just two weeks we're heading up to Diane's house in Michigan for a mini-getaway. We're all looking forward to that.
posted at 09:25 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Friday, July 15, 2005
They're following meAs I'm doing my evening watering of the plants outside, I've started to notice that I am not alone.
I don't know how they know it. I don't know if they know it's me.
Or maybe they just know that a human is walking around outside with a big long fat worm that has water that comes out of a strangely-shaped head.
I now have robins that follow me around while I water. They must know that after I water, the soil is moister and the worms must be on the move and perhaps easier to find. Sometimes it just a single robin, sometimes two. I could never tell if they're the same robins, or just whoever was in the area that sees me sprinkling.
posted at 08:31 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Big Screen TV
Well, it's here! Carol and I now have a 55" HDTV in our family room, sitting on the media cabinet that we got recently.
Here's the thing - I have no good digital signals to view. We're almost 40 miles NW of downtown Chicago, and the antenna is an old 20 year old non-digital one that's actually in the attic and not mounted on the roof. He don't have the new dish up yet for DirecTV HD signals and we don't have digital cable - yet.
So, I'm really disappointed. I'm really disappointed in how bad the DirecTV signal is. It all depends on the station (transponder), but some - including locals - are pretty "blocky" and just don't have the resolution that I thought we should have. Buyer's remorse? I don't think so - I think it's just stuff I need to work on and tinker with as the new pieces are added.
But, I did view my first HD event - The Cubs - Pirates game this afternoon (I don't want to hear it about me watching the Cubs - It's baseball and it was a test). I can't wait to get a better signal so it doesn't break-up as much during motion. The picture quality has the potential of being something awesome.
Carol loves it. We're getting used to the remote and how it fits with all of the other remotes and all of the other equipment we're hooking up. I was up until 1 AM this morning recabling , labeling the cables, and making sure the other equipment (amp, TiVo, DVD, Computer, UPS, etc) all worked before the TV showed-up. All I have outstanding is the optical connection from the TV to the Amp - I've got no audio... which I don't really care about right now beacuse the internal speakers in the TV are the best I've ever experienced. - They're only Left & Right (no Surround), but they're pretty effective.
posted at 12:07 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
It's Christmas Eve!!!I don't think I have felt this way since I was a kid, the day before Christmas, all wound-up and just giddy over the presents that I would getting the next day.
Well, it's here again.
Tomorrow, I'm working from home so I can be there to accept delivery of our new Big Screen TV!!!!!
I can't wait!!! I feeling like bouncing around the room!!! And giggling!!!
I can't wait!!!
posted at 10:12 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
ASGAfter actually attending the All-Star Game in my own hometown, watching the game on TV SUCKS. There are a lot of ceremonies that aren't televised. Hell, they don't even broadcast the Canadian National Anthem anymore! And who threw out the ceremonial first pitch? Don't know - wasn't broadcast. Too many friggin' commercials to run so you don't see anything. Then, when the game is on, there's not enough attention paid to the game. Example - when Kenny Rogers ended his stint on the mound, they interviewed him in the dugout - and never mentioned who the hell was at the plate. Here's a guy, maybe his first time to the All Star Game, who is up to bat and strikes out and the TV crew never says a word on who the person was - it was all about Kenny Rogers, why he was at the game, what he thinks of the crowd reaction... They even screwed up some of the graphics - Early in the game, Fox showed a graphic of the "defensive alignment" of the American League starters. Everyone was there EXCEPT White Sox starting pitcher Mark Buehrle - who was replaced with Chris Carpenter, the starting pitcher for the National League. The audio sucked all night. The little "lipstick" cameras mounted in the ground are cool and give you a different perspective on the game, but they were really dark and almost useless.
I'm jaded. I just didn't enjoy the coverage, In fact - I turned it off more than halfway through the game. I didn't care that I hadn't yet seen 3 of the 4 White Sox players that were there.
(Boxscore)
posted at 10:29 PM | Link | Baseball § | $2,232.86Wow. OK, so not having any service on your car for 8 years can be a little pricey.
But you know, $2,232 over 8 years isn't bad...
posted at 05:12 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Monday, July 11, 2005
8 yearsWell, I'm about 2 weeks away from having my license suspended for not getting an exhaust check on my car. It was die in January, and my "Service Engine Soon" light has been on for a few years now.
It used to be that it you went in to get the checkout and your engine line was on, they would perform the test anyway and I would always pass.
Now, the light cannot be on - the tests are all though the on-board computer and sensors.
So, I went in to get the car serviced - FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE EIGHT YEARS SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR.
Yes, I've done oil changes, brakes, new tires. Just not the regular maintenance.
This is gonna cost a fortune.
But, in the meantime, I have a nice silver 2005 Infiniti G35 as my loaner. Who doesn't love driving a new car? The smell, the quiet, the pickup on the accelleration... the new gadgets that aren't on your old car...
posted at 10:54 AM | Link | Mundane § |
Sunday, July 10, 2005
White Sox 8 - Athletics 9 (11 innings) 
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Another hot, sunny one.
It was a battle all game, though. We actually had a lead... once.
Man, Oakland has our number. I just wanted the game to be over. and they swept us. It just seamed like a struggle every single damn game and going into the All Star Break with a 3-game loosing streak can't be good. The real pressure is coming up. All of September are division opponents. It's when we hit Boston and New York in August that it'll really show where we are.
I hope we don't fade.
But here we are - we STILL have the best record in all of baseball (been that way all first half), and we're still in First Place, nine games ahead of the Twins.
Nice place to be - how long can we stay?
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:39 PM | Link | White Sox § |
Saturday, July 09, 2005
White Sox 1 - Athletics 10
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 audblog audio post
So, yes, I was in the booth with organist Nancy Faust for the 7th Inning Stretch! She actually invited me in when I was standing outside, just watching!
What an absolutely gorgeous night for baseball. Unfortunately, we have a team that really has our number - the Oakland Athletics. Our two All Star Pitchers - Garland and Buehrle couldn't do a thing to stop[ them, and we couldn't do a thing against their pitching.
This might just turn into a suck-it-up and move on type of weekend series.
(Boxscore) « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 10:06 PM | Link | White Sox | 2 comments § |
Friday, July 08, 2005
Am I going to lose it?I've come to the conclusion tat I'm going to lose my finger nail - the one I smashed in the Stadium Club doors at "The Cell" back on May 1st. I can see the bottom of the nail, and that's not good. Actually, not only do I see the bottom of the nail, but I feel like there's another nail underneath.
I'm a little squeamish about this, havening never lost a nail before, and my right index finger just seems to be used for so many different things... I wonder how it will all fall out? (No pun itended...)
Had to go back to Home Depot today. That fancy timer I bought last month failed. It ran a couple of good cycles and hasn't run since. So, instead of digital, I went to a digital/mechanical version. Hopefully, the lawn will come back.
posted at 07:54 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Thursday, July 07, 2005
And the world turns upside down againI'm actually working from home today, but I didn't sleep-in. I heard about the London bombings and that was it for me - I had to get up and just watch it all unveil.
Damn the evil in the world - it doesn't need to exist. Damn them all and their supporting organizations to the deepest, darkest, hottest ring of hell and despair.
posted at 05:43 AM | Link | Current Events § |
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
CBS announces Big Brother 6 Online Offerings  THEME
CBS announced that the show will have a Head Of Household Blog, and the Head Of Household is have a digital camera. The Big Brother talk show "House Calls" is back with "Big Brother 3" Marcellas Reynolds, and there'll be a "Big Brother Fantasy League". All of these items will be at the CBS website.
Oh, and as usual, RealNetworks will be broadcasting live feeds from the house.
read more of this entry »
CBS.COM: THE ULTIMATE DESTINATION FOR "BIG BROTHER 6"
CBS's Official Website to Offer "Big Brother" Viewers a Wide Array of Bonus Features to Supplement and Enhance CBS's Three Weekly Broadcasts
For the First Time, A Head of Household Blog Will Provide Insight Into Life in the "Big Brother" House
Also New, The Head of Household Will Be Rewarded With a Digital Camera With Pictures Posted On CBS.com
CBS and RealNetworks Bring "Big Brother 6" to the Internet With 24/7 Live Video Channel For the Fifth Consecutive Year
"House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show" Returns For Its Second Season
Interactive "Big Brother Fantasy League" Offers Fans A Chance to Compete for Prizes
CBS.com, CBS's official website, will offer BIG BROTHER viewers a wide array of programming and bonus features this summer to supplement and enhance the Network's three weekly broadcasts, including for the first time a Head of Household Blog, in which a BIG BROTHER houseguest communicates directly to BIG BROTHER fans through CBS.com. BIG BROTHER 6 premieres on the CBS Television Network on Thursday, July 7 (8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT).
"This summer, CBS.com is going all out to provide BIG BROTHER fans the broadest and most exciting companion experience we've ever offered," said Larry Kramer, President, CBS Digital Media. "From the 24/7 live Internet feed to the new blog to the daily talk show, BIG BROTHER viewers will have unparalleled access to activities in the BIG BROTHER house and a new level of involvement with the show."
New to the BIG BROTHER Internet experience is the Head of Household Blog, where fans will be able to read first hand accounts from each week's Head of Household on life in the BIG BROTHER house and what it's like to be under the constant gaze of dozens of cameras and viewed live on the Internet.
CBS.com will also provide a digital camera to the Head of Household with the pictures to posted on CBS.com along with their Blog.
CBS.com also announced the return of two other popular features: HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW and the interactive BIG BROTHER Fantasy League.
Returning for its second season, HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW is a no-charge, half-hour, streaming video daily talk show about the summer reality series seen every Monday through Friday (1:00 PM/ET, 10:00 AM/PT) on CBS.com.
HOUSE CALLS is hosted by Marcellas Reynolds, a houseguest from "Big Brother 3," and Gretchen Massey, an on-air host of "The Gretchen Massey Show," which is broadcast Sunday nights on Infinity Radio's KLSX-FM Los Angeles. The two hosts interact with viewers through phone calls and e-mails, discuss events that transpire in the BIG BROTHER house, offer prognostications, analyze strategies and interview former BIG BROTHER houseguests as well as current houseguests following their eviction.
Also returning is the "BIG BROTHER Fantasy League" game where fans compete for prizes based on the events that transpire in the house.
The official BIG BROTHER website at CBS.com will also include detailed summaries of all the events that happen during each televised broadcast, a live 24/7 chat room, popularity and opinion polls, a virtual tour of the BIG BROTHER house, descriptions of the week's challenges, voting history pages, photo galleries and a houseguest section with complete profiles.
For the fifth consecutive season, CBS and RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), a global leader in network-delivered digital media, have joined forces to provide exclusive 24/7 live video channel from inside the BIG BROTHER 6 house. The webcast coverage debuts immediately following the premiere of BIG BROTHER 6 on July 7 (8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT), and will be accessible through the official BIG BROTHER 6 website at CBS.com and through the RealNetworks' Superpass™ subscription service website at www.real.com/bigbrother.
Subscribers to the 24/7 video stream can watch any one of four live camera feeds from inside the BIG BROTHER 6 house or catch all of the action at once with the special quad-cam view which allows fans to see four different video feeds simultaneously. Subscribers will also have access to an exclusive, subscribers-only web chat that will allow fans from across the country to converse about what they are seeing live on the feeds.
The entire three-month live 24/7 internet feed of BIG BROTHER 6 is available through RealNetworks' SuperPass subscription service, or fans may subscribe to receive the three-month broadcast for $29.99 or pay $12.99 per month with a free trial for everyone who signs up.
CBS/Endemol Entertainment will provide the content from the house, while RealNetworks' content delivery division, Real Broadcast Network, will deliver the 24/7 live streaming webcast feed.
To preserve the drama for BIG BROTHER 6 television viewers, CBS may block or delay the webcast for a limited number of real-time events that transpire in the house.
BIG BROTHER 6 will be broadcast three times a week on Tuesday (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), Thursday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) and Saturday (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT).
Arnold Shapiro and Allison Grodner are the executive producers of BIG BROTHER 6 for Shapiro/Grodner Productions, in association with Endemol Entertainment.
About CBS.com
CBS.com, the official website of the CBS Television Network, has become the top web destination among all Network television websites. CBS.com has been the most trafficked website among its Entertainment competitors with more unique visitors every month for the past two years. With its proven success of intersecting traditional television with new media, CBS.com attracted a record high of more than 12 million unique visitors in May 2004 as a result of the "Survivor: All Stars" finale and online voting for America's Tribal Council. Home to the official websites for all CBS television series, CBS.com's notable sites include "Survivor," "CSI" and "CSI: Miami," "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" and "Late Show with David Letterman."
About RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is a leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody® Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer® 10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.
CBS AND REALNETWORKS TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE 24/7 LIVE VIDEO CHANNEL OF “BIG BROTHER 6”
LOS ANGELES and SEATTLE, July 6, 2005 – CBS and RealNetworks®, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK), the leading creator of digital media services and software, today announced that they will offer an exclusive live video channel from the “Big Brother 6” house 24 hours a day that allows fans to watch houseguest activity in real time, much of which never appears on TV. The webcast, which premieres Thursday, July 7, immediately follows the East Coast broadcast of the show at 8:00-9:00PM, ET/PT and will be accessible through the official “Big Brother 6” website at www.CBS.com and through RealNetworks’ SuperPass™ subscription service website at www.real.com/bigbrother.
Fans can choose either a discounted three month subscription of $29.99 or a monthly subscription of $12.99 per month with a free trial for everyone who signs up. Subscribers to the 24/7 video stream can watch any one of four live camera feeds from inside the “Big Brother 6” house or catch all of the action at once with the special quad-cam view which allows fans to see four different video feeds simultaneously.
“‘The Big Brother 6’ live webcast with RealNetworks has become immensely popular as fans can check-in on the houseguests at anytime and see the action unfold,” said Brinley Turner, Vice President and General Manager, CBS.com. “Whether used as a companion to the prime time series or as live theatre in its own right, it’s a unique Internet experience that further connects the fan to the show.”
“Big Brother 6’ online demonstrates how the Internet and TV industries can work together to create a richer experience for consumers,” said Dan Sheeran, Senior Vice President, Premium Consumer Services, RealNetworks. “Online subscribers will enjoy ‘Big Brother 6’ on TV that much more by following the 24/7 action and connecting online with their fellow fans.”
“Big Brother 6” follows a group of people living together in a new house specially built for this edition and outfitted with 47 cameras and 78 microphones, the most in “Big Brother” history, recording their every move, 24 hours a day. One by one, the houseguests will vote each other out of the house. At the end of three months, the last remaining houseguest will receive the grand prize. In a new twist this year, each houseguest is paired with a secret partner from the outside world and the final houseguest will win $1,000,000, the biggest cash prize in “Big Brother” history, if they complete the game with their teammate. If the twosome does not make it to the final two, the winner will win $500,000.
“Big Brother” 24/7 is a member benefit of SuperPass which also includes news and entertainment video, free music downloads, free game downloads premium online radio with over 70 ad-free music stations, Real® PhotoVideo for sharing personal photos and video clips, and more.
To preserve the drama for “Big Brother 6” television viewers, CBS may block or delay the webcast for a limited number of real-time events that transpire in the house. Other components of the official “Big Brother 6” website will include detailed summaries of all the events that happen during each televised broadcast, a live 24/7 chat room, an interactive “Big Brother Fantasy League” game, popularity polls, opinion polls, a virtual tour of the “Big Brother” house, descriptions of the week’s challenges, voting history pages, photo galleries and a houseguest section with complete profiles.
ABOUT CBS.COM
CBS.com, the official website of the CBS Television Network, has become the top web destination among all Network television websites. CBS.com has been the most trafficked website among its Entertainment competitors with more unique visitors every month for the past two years. With its proven success of intersecting traditional television with new media, CBS.com attracted a record high of more than 12 million unique visitors in May 2004 as a result of the "Survivor: All Stars" finale and online voting for America's Tribal Council. Home to the official websites for all CBS television series, CBS.com's notable sites include "Survivor," "CSI" and "CSI: Miami," "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" and "Late Show with David Letterman."
ABOUT REALNETWORKS
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody® Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer®10, the first product to integrate finding, organizing, buying, playing and managing digital audio and video in a single product. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com.
« hide the extended part of this entry posted at 02:22 PM | Link | Big Brother § |
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
The long journey to HDTVThis has been a long journey...
Back on February 19th, Carol & I were at an appliance store in Kenosha, waiting for new tires to be installed on my car (now, that is a long story...) We were tucked away in the corner of the store, watching their HDTV's.
That's when it happened - a guy's dream came true: my wife fell in love with a big screen HDTV!
Now, other than the cost of the TV (which Carol was pretty damn close to actually buying on the spot before we had to leave that day), we're DirecTV customers, so this just isn't something we could do quickly.
First, you need the TV. But, to get the HD signal from the DirecTV satellite, you need an HD Receiver. Now, the DirecTV HD channels are on a different satellite, so we need a new dish that will pick-up signals from multiple satellites simultaneously. To get the signal from the dish to the receiver means that we need a new amplified multiswitch that will take the multiple satellite feeds and pump-out the signal to the receivers in the house.
Fortunately, you can take all of these steps one at a time and gradually rebuild your infrastructure to get HD signals.
Last Thursday, we took the first step - buying the TV.
read more of this entry »
After a lot of research, and even though we were sucked-in to the quality of DLP, we opted for a Sony LCD 55 inch projection system (KDF-55WF655). It's going to be a while before it shows up - it's coming from Los Angeles.
The second step we took today. I purchased and FINALLY received today a Sony SAT-HD300 receiver. I got it off eBay and saved hundreds of dollars (though this particular auction was one of the worst I've ever been involved with). The receiver has not only component outputs, but regular S-Video and composite outputs, so we could hook it up to our existing 27-inch TV. The picture quality seems even better than the original (a Sony SAT-B55).
This receiver not only has satellite inputs, but antenna and cable inputs as well. There are internal tuners to accept off-the-air signals, both analog and digital. So, on a lark, I hooked up the antenna that I installed in our attic 20 years ago.
Before I knew it, I was pulling-in the DT signals from the local TV stations!, Now, I can't see them in HD yet (since we don't have the HDTV yet), but I can see the 4:3 version of the signal! I had no idea that the TV stations in town had these "other" stations! For instance, both Channel 5 (local NBC affiliate) and Channel 7 (Local ABC affiliate) have separate channels for broadcasting local weather info and radar - in HDTV - 24 hours a day! Also, Channel 7 and 11 (the local PBS affiliate) broadcasts their own HD programming on still another channel. This is so damn cool!
Next step: Replace the multi-switch (which I already own). I can do this any time and need to do this soon.
The final step is replace the dish - I'm getting a replacement dish off of eBay, so when that comes in, I will need to find an installer. « hide the extended part of this entry posted at 06:57 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Monday, July 04, 2005
HomeWhat a wonderful weekend. I didn't blog at all - didn't have an internet connection, had audblog problems, and frankly - was too "in the moment" relaxing in the pool for three days and enjoying Diane and Melinda's cooking.
Sigh. Need to do this again... in a couple of weeks...
posted at 07:50 PM | Link | Mundane § |
Saturday, July 02, 2005
4th of July Weekend Vacationposted at 10:52 AM | Link | Audblog § |
Friday, July 01, 2005
The Return of BunnyCam 2.0Our BunnyCam has returned. I had to shut it down when we had the hardwood floors installed because the bunny condo was moved to our bedroom for an extended time. After that, it was the interior house painting that had the cage staying upstairs. Now that the condo is back in place, I got a new camera (newer does not mean better) and Indy & Chip are back online. It's a different angle, so it should be different to watch.
posted at 07:03 PM | Link | Bunnies § | *nose wiggle* x 2"Rabbit, Rabbit!"
Beginning of the month, beginning of a holiday weekend.
2 reasons to "Rabbit, Rabbit!"
(Plus our own personal two reasons - Indy & Chip (or, as we're starting to call him - Chip The Bruiser. He's not growing at all, but he's just one solid little bunny, running everywhere he can, picking up anything he can, and annoying every bunny he can)
posted at 06:31 AM | Link | Memes § | |
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